Walmart store Costa Rica

Wal-Mart Centroamérica has revealed that it is to launch 24 new outlets in the Costa Rican market this year as it looks to boost its existing portfolio of 181 units.

The San José-based arm of the US retail giant said that the expansion would create over 800 new jobs in the country, taking its employee base well over the 30,000 mark in Central America.

Expanding operations will come at a cost of some US$160m, Inside Costa Rica reported, part of an overall US$387m investment that the group is making in adding new stores to the Central American region.

Wal-Mart Centroamérica currently operates 531 stores in Guatemala, El Salvador Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.